Hopper door operating mechanism



April 29, 1969 w. L. FLOEHR HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Sheet orsFiled NOV. 28, 1967 Invento r: Walter L.F1oehr his Ano rney April 29,1969 W. L.. FLOEHR HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Sheet 1? of 5 FiledNov. 28, 1967 Invento r:

Walter L. Floehr FIG. 3

By M

his Attorney April 29, 1969 w. FLOEH'R 3,440,761

HOPPER noon OPERATING MECHANISM Sheet 3 013 Filed Nov. 28, 1967 V ah-FIG. 4

Inventor:

-Wa1ter L. Floehr his Aflorney FIG. 5

United States Patent 3,440,761 HOPPER DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Walter L.Floehr, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Midland- Iggs Corporation, Cleveland,Ohio, a corporation of Filed Nov. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 686,254

Int. Cl. EOSE 17/00, 11/28; E05c 7/06 US. Cl. 49109 10 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A mechanism for operating a hinged hopper door of arailway hopper car in which a linkage operatively connecting the door toan operating shaft includes a toggle connected at its joint to the shaftand at its ends to the door and having a fixed pivot on the carsunderframe, the toggle joint in a closing operation being swung over andbeyond the fixed pivot for supporting the door against opening on theunderframe over a substantial portion of the range of movement of thelinkage at the closed end of that range.

Background of the invention:

Numerous manually operable operating mechanisms have been developed forswinging hinged hopper doors between open and closed positions and aclosing operation in which a door is swung against gravity to closedposition after the lading has been discharged from the associatedhopper, usually presents no problem. In an opening operation, the onlyfunction required to be performed by the operating mechanism is torelease the door from locked position, after which the door will swingby gravity to open position. Both the closing and the release on openingusually are produced manually through a lever applied to an operatingshaft of the mechanism and in prior mechanisms the load of the door andany lading are imposed on the operating shaft the moment the operatorbegins to turn it. The subsequent turning of the shaft and the manuallever in response to the load can be too violent for the operator tocontrol, depending on his strength and the weight of the particularlading being discharged, and, once control is lost, the operator runsthe risk of being seriously injured by the lever. It is to a solution ofthis problem, without resort to a clutch or other lost motion connectionbetween the shaft and the lever, that the present invention isparticularly directed.

Summary of the invention The primary object of the present invention isto provide an improved operating mechanism for a hinged hopper doorwhich in an opening operation delays imposition upon an operating shaftof a load initiated at the door until the mechanism has moved through asubstantial portion of its range of movement between open and closedpositions.

The improved mechanism attains the foregoing objective by supporting theload of a door and any lading on the body of the car when the door isclosed, independently of the operating shaft, and continuing thissupport over a substantial portion of the opening movement of themechanism. In its preferred form the improved mechanism is adapted tooperate not just one but a pair of laterally alinged doors on oppositesides of a cars center sill, has an operating shaft extending across thecar and journaled intermediate its ends on the underside of the sill anddrivably links the shaft to the joint of a toggle connected at one endto the doors and at the other to the sill, the latter for pivoting abouta fixed pivot spaced from the shaft. Folded when closed and extendedwhen open, the toggle, as it approaches closed position, is swungover-center above the fixed pivot and, while over-center, imposes on thesill any load initiated at the door. The operating shaft preferably isdrivably connected to the toggle by a crank and link, the former keyedto the shaft, and the toggle is stopped with an upward break in openposition to ensure that it will fold upwardly under a force appliedthrough the shaft in a closing operation. The preferred mechanism iscentered laterally on the center sill and in closing swings upwardlythereinto for protection against damage in transit.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appearhereinafter in the detailed description, be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims and be illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure description FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view ofthe bottom portion of a railway hopper car taken along lines 11 ofFIGURE 2 and incorporating a preferred embodiment of the improved dooroperating mechanism of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along lines 2-2of FIGURE 1 with the mechanism and a door operated thereby in closedposition;

FIGURE 3 is a view of the structure of FIGURE 2 on the same section,with the operating mechanism in the position at which the load istransferred between the center sill and the operating shaft;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the structure of FIGURE 2 on the same section,with the operating mechanism and door in open position;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along lines5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along lines 66of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view taken along lines 77 ofFIGURE 1.

Detailed description Referring now in detail to the drawings in whichlike reference characters designate like parts, the improved mechanismof the present invention for operating hinged or drop bottom doors ofrailway hopper cars, has been applied for purposes of illustration to apair of laterally aligned hopper doors 1 hinged laterally or cross-wiseof a hopper car, of which only the parts of the body have been shownthat are necessary for an understanding of the invention. Theillustrated doors are positioned at opposite sides of a center sill 2for closing downwardly opening discharge openings 3 of a pair ofsimilarly positioned hoppers 4. In closed position, the doors 2 seat atan oblique angle against frames 5 bounding their respective openings andupon release are swingable downwardly from that position to asubstantially vertical open position.

The improved door operating mechanism, designated as 6, is comprised ofan operating shaft 7 and a linkage 8, which, for the illustrated pair oflaterally algined doors 2, extend, respectively, laterally ortransversely and longitudinally of the car. The preferred operatingshaft 7 is horizontally disposed and mounted on and extends to oppositesides of the body of the car for manual operation from either side byapplication of a lever or other suitable turning tool (not shown) to oneof its ends 9. A similarly extending and operable lock shaft 10,paralleling the operating shaft, mounts a lock 11 adjacent either endfor locking the operating shaft against turning in the closed positionof the doors. Both the operating and lock shafts 7 and 10 convenientlyare journaled and supported intermediate their ends on mounting brackets12 fixed to and suspended from the preferably inturned bottom flanges 13of the center sill 2.

When unlocked, the operating shaft 7 is rotatable or turnable inopposite or opening and closing directions and applies correspondingforces to the doors 1 through the linkage 8. Centered laterally on andswingable into the center sill 2, the preferred linkage is a jointedlinkage formed of a crank arm or lever 14 welded or otherwise fixedagainst rotation to the operating shaft 7, a toggle 15 and a link 16,the last connected for vertical pivoting at an inner end to an outer ordistal end of the crank arm and at an outer end of the joint 17 of thetoggle. Vertically swingable, all of these members or parts ofthelinkage 8 preferably are formed of a pair of laterally spaced duplicateelements straddling or straddled by the elements of the adjoiningmember, for eliminating torque or twisting in the joints therebetween.The toggle 15 is connected at opposite ends for relative verticalpivoting to the doors 1 and the center sill 2, the former by a door arm18 and the latter by a sill, support or guide arm 19 and both of thesearms are double elements in accordance with the preferred construction.

Straddling or embracing those of the door arm 18, the elements of thesupport arm 19 are connected to the center sill 2 for swinging,pivoting, or hinging about a fixed axis parallel to and spaced forwardlyfrom the rotative axis of the operating shaft 7, conveniently bybrackets 20, each fixed to and suspended from one of the bottom flanges13 of the center sill and journaling a trunnion or pivot pin 21pivotally connecting it to the adjoining arm element. In turn, theelements of the door arm 18 conveniently are pivotally connected attheir outer ends by a cross-shaft 22, extending or projecting parallelto the operating shaft 7 over the faces 23 of the doors adjacent theirdistal ends and mounted on brackets 24 rigid with and outstanding fromthe faces. In the trunnions 22 and the cross-shaft and their mountings,the toggle 15 thus has at its opposite ends a sill or body pivot orpivotal axis about which it fulcrums and a door pivot or pivotal axis,the former fixed against movement relative to the sill 2 and the lattermovable with the doors and both horizontal and parallel to each other.

The relative positions or dispositions of the members of the linkage 8,in the doors and their own closed and open positions, are very importantto the operation of the improved mechanism 6 and this is particularlytrue of the toggle 15. In closed position, the toggle joint 17 must beabove the toggles fixed sill pivot and also must be longitudinallybeyond or spaced forwardly of that pivot and, in swinging between openand closed positions, must swing above and over or across that pivot,through and substantially beyond opposite sides of a plane centeredvertically thereon. Swinging vertically about the fixed pivot the centersill 2, the toggle joint 17, which also is the joint between the toggle15 and the link 16, in closed and open positions is longitudinallydisposed, respectively, substantially beyond the fixed sill pivot and between that pivot and the rotative axis of the operating shaft 7.

As the toggle 17 and crank arm 14 are connected not directly but throughthe link 16, the toggle joint '17 between the toggle and the link, in aclosing operation under a force applied through the operating shaft 7,could swing below rather than, as required, above the fixed sill or carbody pivot and is prevented from so doing by stop means suitably in theform of stop lugs 25 on the elements of the support arm 19 beyond thefixed pivot. At all times contained in the center sill 2 above thebottom flanges 13, the stop lugs 25, in the open position of the linkage8, engage or abut against the flanges and hold the linkage with a slightupward break in the joint between the toggle and the link 16, so thatthe force initially applied to the joint in an opening operation will bethe necessary upward force.

In its closed position, the toggle 17 preferably is fully folded andobliquely disposed with its longer door arm 18 projecting or extendingbelow and laterally aligned or in juxtaposition with the support arm 19and the fixed sill pivot formed by the pinions 21 radially centeredbetween and aligned with the toggle joint 17 and the door pivot formedby the cross-shaft 22. While longer than the support arm 19, the doorarm 18 preferably is only sufficiently longer to enable the cross-shaft22 to fit below and longitudinally rearwardly or inwardly of the togglemounting brackets 20, so that in the toggles closed position its doorand sill pivots are in closed adjacency. At this time the load of thedoors 1 and any lading in the hoppers 4 thereabove will be applied orimposed through the toggle on the center sill and, relieved of suchdoor-initiated forces, the operating shaft 17 need only hold the togglein closed position against service shocks in transit, and this does witha minimum of effort if, as preferred, the crank arm 14 and link 16 areat that time longitudinally aligned with the joint between themstraight.

In an opening operation, the load of the doors '1 and any lading at sometime will be imposed upon the operating shaft 7, but this will not occurso long as the toggle joint 17 is forwardly beyond or overcenteredrelative to the toggles sill pivot. Not only is there a substantialdelay in the imposition of the load on the operating shaft, some 35 outof the full swing of about in the illustrated embodiment, but theimposition is gradual because the unfolding of the toggle 17 and therelative angularity of its door and support arms 18 and 19 are slight atthe transfer point at which the support arm is vertical. Even though hecannot control the load when it is fully imposed on the operating shaft,the operator thus is given fair warning of the imposition and, as soonas he feels the shaft responding to the load, can release the manuallever and move back out of arms way. The preferred slight relativeangularity of the arms 18 and 19 at the point at which the support armis vertical of course progressively decreases between that point and theclosed position of the toggle and, over that portion or segment at theclosed end of the range of movement of the linkage 18, radial spacingbetween the fixed sill and movable door pivots remains substantiallyconstant, with consequent minimum permissive movement between the doorsand their frames 5. Thus, it will only be after their load has beenimposed on the operating shaft in an opening operating that the doorswill open to any considerable extent.

Accordingly, as opposed to a conventional door operating mechanism inwhich the door begins to open immediately upon its release and the loadof the door and any lading is suddenly imposed upon the mechanism as awhole, the improved mechanism 6 of this invention in an openingoperation delays both the opening of the door and the imposition of theload and resultant turning force on the operating shaft and, even whenthe force is imposed, makes the imposition gradual so that the operatorhas ample time to release his manual lever and step out of harms waybefore the turning of the operating shaft under force of the lading hasreached a dangerous stage. In a closing operation the operator simplyturns the operating shaft in a closing direction, using the leverageprovided by the manual lever or other turning tool to overcome the forceof the gravity on the doors.

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that there hasbeen provided an improved hopper door operating mechanism in which anoperating shaft is so linked to one or more doors operated thereby as toeliminate any risk of injury to an operator in an opening operation. Itshould be understood that the described and disclosed embodiment ismerely exemplary of the invention and that all modifications areintended to be included that do not depart from the spirit of theinveniton.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. Door operating mechanism for hinged doors of railway hopper cars,comprising an operating shaft rotatably mounted on a body of a hoppercar, and linkage means operatively connecting said shaft to hinged doormeans of the car for swinging the door means between open and closedpositions, said linkage means including toggle means connected at ajoint thereof to said shaft and at ends thereof through door and bodypivots respectively to said door and said body, said toggle means inclosed position being obliquely disposed and having said toggle jointpositioned above and over-center beyond said body pivot.

2. Door operating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the operatingshaft is horizontally disposed, the body pivot is fixed and spacedhorizontally from the operating shaft, the axis of the body and doorpivots and the toggle joint are parallel to the axis of the shaft, andthe linkage means swings vertically between open and closed positions.

3. Door operating mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the linkagemeans includes crank means mounted on the shaft for rotation therewithand link means connecting the crank means to the toggle means at thetoggle joint thereof. 7

4. Door operating mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the togglemeans includes door and support arms connected for relative verticalpivoting at the toggle joint and having outer ends thereof connected tothe door means and the body respectively at the door pivot and the bodypivot.

5. Door operating mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the togglejoint in the closed position thereof is beyond the body pivot in adirection away from the operating shaft and swings from closed positionabout and over the body pivot to an open position intermediate the bodypivot and the shaft.

6. Door operating mechanism according to claim 5, wherein in the closedposition of the toggle means the door and support arms are substantiallylaterally aligned, and the door and body pivots and the toggle joint aresubstantially in line.

7. Door operating mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the door meansare a pair of laterally aligned transversely hinged doors mounted onopposite sides of a center sill of the car, the linkage means iscentered laterally 0n and swingable into said center sill, there is adoor pivot for the door arm of the toggle means on each door, and theoperating shaft and body pivot are mounted in longitudinally spacedrelation on an underside of said center sill.

8. Door operating mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the linkagemeans in closed position projects above the operating shaft and the doorand body pivots into the center sill with the crank and link meansthereof in substantially a straight line.

9. Door operating mechanism according to claim 7, including stop meansfor holding the linkage means in open position with the joint betweenthe toggle and link means broken upwardly.

10. Door operating mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the stopmeans are stop lug means on the door arm outwardly of the door pivot,and said stop lug means are contained in the center sill and abutinturned bottom flange means thereof in the open position of the linkagemeans.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,291,071 12/1966 Dorey -340 X3,373,700 3/1968 De Ridder l05304 X 3,385,231 5/1968 Dorey 105304 XDAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

I. KARL BELL, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 49-645; 105304

